Synopsis
Shankar
(Ashok Kumar) who moves into an abandoned mansion that has
a tragic history. He notices his resemblance to a portrait
of the mansion's former owner and sees the ghost of the man's
mistress Kamini (Madhubala) who tells him he must die if they
are to be united or he must kill the gardener's daughter for
her to once again come alive. His friend Shrinath (Kanu Roy)
tries to break the obsession by arranging Shankar's marriage
to Ranjana (Vijayalakhsmi). However Shankar's obsession continues
so he goes someplace far off where Ranjana is expected among
other things to live in a snake and bat infested hut. One
night she follows Shankar and sees him Kamini. She commits
suicide-accusing Shankar of the deed in her dying statement
to the police. In court, the gardener's daughter Asha is unveiled
in the witness box…She is none other than Kamini and
was in fact maquerading as the ghost. Shankar is sentenced
to death but continues to be obsessed with Asha/ Kamini. He
then asks Shrinath to marry Asha so that they are separated
this birth but hoping he and Asha/ Kamini would meet again
in the next birth and be re-united. As his sentence is about
to carried out, a letter mailed by Ranjana confessing that
she did indeed commit suicide is found and Shankar is released.
But it is too late. Shrinath is already married to Asha...
The film
 In
1942, the breakaway group
from Bombay talkies formed itsown Film Studio
- Filmistan. As Filmistan grew from strength
to strength, Bombay Talkies began to decline
and was making huge losses.
Ashok Kumar, who used to be Bombay Talkies
biggest star and who was part of the breakaway
group to Filmistan, returned to his alma
mater so to speak in the late 1940s to try
and turn the company around. In the wake
of this effort came Mahal, perhaps
India's first suspense and ghost story!
Mahal
was Kamaal Amrohi's first film as director
and immediately sets him apart as a filmmaker.
It was a film that was startlingly different
in its times, a tragic psychodrama - thriller
with overtones of a ghost story. At that
time Amrohi was a scenarist at Bombay Talkies
and writer of some repute. He took the story
to Ashok Kumar who immediately agreed to
produce the film. Mahal was among the earlier
efforts to improve not only the content
but also the form of Hindi Films. The film
is till date known for its richly textured
visuals, the imaginative use of sound, its
tantalizing ambiguity and of course its
haunting music.
Mahal
is held solidly together by its two central
performances - Ashok Kumar and Madhubala.
Along with Motilal it was Ashok Kumar who
brought a more natural style of performing
to Indian Cinema. Dadamoni was one of the
earliest actors who understood the cinematic
medium and realized that acting was reacting
as well. Before Dadamoni, most artistes
would just say their lines and that was
it but Dadamoni knew that silences and reactions
in fact constituted more of acting rather
then just dialoguebaazi. In Mahal
Ashok Kumar plays the obsessed lover to
perfection. Just see the look in his eyes
as he follows the 'ghost' leading him on.
Mahal
finally made Madhubala
a star. Though she had already been a heroine
for a couple of years starting with Kidar
Sharma's Neel Kamal (1947), it was
Mahal that made her a star. For the
first time her famous looks came into focus
as well as she began to blossom into the
most beautiful Hindi Film heroine ever.
Madhubala is spot on as the spirit that
haunts Ashok Kumar bringing a haunting quality
to her performance as well. What is ironic
was that Madhubala was never the first choice
at all. Many actresses including Suraiya
were considered for the role before Madhubala
was finally chosen. Today it is impossible
to think of anyone but Madhubala in Mahal.
Incidentally it was a sort of coming
home for Madhubala too as she had been a
child star in one of Bombay Talkies biggest
hits - Basant made in 1942 and here
she was playing the heroine and that opposite
the studio's top actor.
But
even more than Ashok Kumar and Madhubala,
perhaps the biggest reason for Mahal's
success was its superhit music. Khemchand
Prakash scored the music of Mahal.
The soundtrack of Mahal was light-years
ahead of its time in terms of its music,
use of sounds and orchestration. A pioneer
in the field of classical music and rajasthani
folk music, Khamchand Prakash had a complete
grasp of Marwar folk songs, thumris and
ghazals. He was among the major Music Directors
of the 40s along with Ghulam
Haider, C. Ramchandra, Anil Biswas and
Naushad
and is considered to be his Guru by Naushad.
The key song Aaegaa Aanewaalaa sung
by Lata Mangeshkar
is brilliantly used as a leitmotif for the
ghost and set the trend for a suspense and
ghost film to always have a song that works
as a leitmotif throughout the film be it
Madhumati (1958),
Woh Kaun Thi (1964) or Mera Saaya
(1966). It is said the recording began
with the mike placed in the center of a
large hall with Lata in the corner of the
room. As the prelude began she inched her
way to the mike singing Khamosh Hai Zamana…
(an early use of prelude before the actual
song - here lyrics were written by Amrohi
himself). Mahal without a doubt represents
the finest work of Khemchand Prakash at
his peak. Interestingly, during the production
of Mahal, someone carelessly remarked
to the studio authorities that if the film
did not prove to be a hit it would be because
of the music. When the film was released,
of course it proved to be extremely popular.
He received innumerable letters from all
over India. In spite of being ill, Khemchand
Prakash took a cab to the man's house and
forced him to read all those letters.
While
Aaegaa Aanewaalaa proved to be a
turning point in her career, 1949 was also
the year that the Lata Mangeshkar phenomenon
took off as apart from Mahal, her
songs in other films released the same year
such as Andaaz,
Barsaat and Dulari reached hithertho
unknown levels of popularity. Such was Lata
Mangeshkar's impact that within a year she
had changed the face of the playback singer
as her highly trained high-pitched singing
rendered the nasal, basy voices of the day
totally obsolete. At least music directors
had found the voice that could stretch their
creative experiments to the fullest. The
only two singers to survive the Lata onslaught
were Geeta
Roy and to a certain extent Shamshad
Begum as Lata went on to conquer all and
sundry with her magical voice and become
the greatest singer that India has ever
seen. Incidentally Mahal sees two
other wonderful Lata solos as well - Dil
ne Phir Yaad Kiya and Mushkil Hai
Bahut Mushkil both on Madhubala.
Besides
turning around Lata Mangeshkar's career,
It was Khemchand Prakash who gave
Kishore Kumar his initial break with
Marne ki Duayen Kyon Mangoon in Ziddi
in 1948 and gave him one of his earlier
assignments in Rhim Jhim coming
the same year as Mahal. Unfortunately
Khemchand Prakash couldn't live for long
to enjoy Mahal's stupendous success
as he passed away the following year when
still in his early 40s. But not before giving
another scintillating musical score in the
Raj Kapoor - Nargis
starrer Jan Pehchan (1950).
The other singer that Mahal is a
triumph for is Rajkumari. Rajkumari began
her career in the late 1930s as a singer
actress with Prakash Pictures. But the love
of food and a resulting weight problem forced
her to concentrate on playback singing only.
Rajkumari sang in an era when the rupee
had value, petrol cost 6 annas a gallon
and she was paid the princely sum of Rs
50 a song! Such was her success that even
before partnerships like Mukesh
- Raj
Kapoor or Talat Mehmood - Dilip
Kumar or Mohd.
Rafi - Dilip Kumar were formed, heroines
like Shobana Samarth had stipulations in
their contracts that Rajkumari would sing
for them! Mahal sees some of Rajkumari's
greatest work as a singer with splendid
use of her sweet voice that was strong yet
not sharply high pitched. The song Ghabrakejo
Hum Sar ko Takraaye to Achcha Ho on
Vijayalakshmi is perhaps the greatest song
sung by Rajkumari in her entire career.
Old
Bombay Talkies cameraman Josef Wirsching
shot the film and he does a splendid job
of playing with light and shadow to maintain
the mood of the story. Interestingly the
lighting inspired by the German Expressionist
Films of the late 1910s and early 1920s
was initially far darker and moody with
a much more somber use of shadows but the
studio executives felt in India the audiences
must see everything and so the look of the
film was made a little brighter. The film
is further enhanced by its deep focus photography
creating haunting images of Madhubala walking
down long corridors of the Mahal.
Released
in 1949, Mahal was a tremendous success
at the box office. Even as it made the careers
of Kamaal Amrohi, Madhubala and Lata Mangeshkar,
sadly however the film offered but a temporary
relief to Bombay Talkies' declining fortunes
and by 1954 this great institution of filmmaking
finally folded up. One cannot help but notice
the influence of Mahal on Bimal
Roy's Madhumati made a good 9
years later as Dilip Kumar too comes to
a strange mansion at night and in the dark,
eerie atmosphere of large shadows, swinging
chandeliers he sees his own portrait there…Madhumati
also makes use of the 'ghost' song as a
leitmotif this time with Aaja re Pardesi
sung again by who else but Lata Mangeshkar.
And coincidentally Lata considers both
Aaegaa Aanewaalaa and Aaja re Pardesi
among her ten best songs ever!
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